CENTRAL coach Phil Williams has described milestone-man Tom Madden as a "workhorse who does everything to the best of his ability" as the Butcher Boys prepare to back up their first-round performance against Souths at Townson Oval on Saturday (2pm).
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Williams was full of praise for the lock, set for his 100th first-grade appearance in the Newcastle Rugby League competition.
"He's just a workhorse who does everything to the best of his ability," Williams told the Newcastle Herald.
"He's a pleasure to coach and all the players respect him. He's one of those players you want to play with and don't want to play against."
Madden, who previously played a handful of matches at Wests before switching to Central, now finds himself a mainstay of a new-look Butcher Boys squad hit with off-season departures.
"We're still an unknown quantity, a work in progress. Each [training] session something new comes up. But because we bled 30 blokes in first grade last year a lot of them got exposure," Williams said.
Central beat 2022 grand finalists Macquarie 22-20 in a thrilling encounter at St John Oval last weekend.
Williams says "our good was good and our bad was bad, there was no in between", however, admired "our will to win".
The Butcher Boys lost two outings at Merewether last year, going down to Souths (36-22) in round three and Cessnock (22-16) in the minor semi.
"It hasn't been a very good hunting ground for Central recently ... but those things are made to be broken," Williams said.
Randall Briggs (ankle) is due back for the Butcher Boys after Easter.
Souths' Lewis Hamilton is out following a head knock.
Elsewhere on Saturday and Maitland forward Peter Wilson begins the first of what's expected to be a six-week stint on the sidelines, having fractured his cheek bone but avoiding surgery.
Ethan Curtain-Edwards replaces Wilson on the Pickers' bench while Lincoln Smith returns from representative duty and fills the void left by suspended Pat Mata'utia.
The defending premiers host Lakes (3:15pm), who have playmaker Dylan Phythian available after serving a two-match ban during the recent NSW Country Championships.
Kurri listed a raft of changes, which sees the inclusion of the Suli brothers - John and Loto - for the first time since arriving at the club.
The Bulldogs - who also have Cooper Collins debuting, Jesse Wighton shifting to fullback and Tyler Le Prince Campbell (ankle) injured - visit Wyong at Bill Hicks Oval (3pm).
Sunday sees Cessnock, with Sam Clune and Jarred Anderson replacing suspended pair Harry Siejka and Brayden Musgrove, travel to meet the Northern Hawks at Tomaree Sports Complex (3pm).
Wests have the bye.
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